At a press conference this morning the Pacific Science Center announced the return of the King Tut exhibit to Seattle, where it will kick off its West Coast premiere in 2012, coinciding with the 50th Anniversary of Seattle World’s Fair and the Center.
(Photos courtesy of the Pacific Science Center).
Governor Chris Gregoire, King County Councilmember Larry Phillips, Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin, Group Health President and CEO Scott Armstrong, and PSC President and CEO Bryce Seidl were among those on the announcement panel.
The exhibit, which will run from May 24, 2012 to January 6, 2013, will feature over 100 artifacts–more than twice the number viewable the last time the exhibit came to Seattle in 1978–many of which have never before been seen in North America.
The panel emphasized the exhibit as a testament to Seattle, Washington and the region’s commitment to arts, culture, history, education and science, also noting the economic advantages it will bring in making Seattle a destination city.
“This is a really big deal for this community,” Gregoire said. “Only a handful of cities have had the distinction of having this exhibit and we’re thrilled that Seattle will be able to showcase it. That means that an entire new generation of students will be exposed to this history–not online, not on their iPhones–but right here, up close and personal at the Pacific Science Center. It also means tourists on the West Coast will make this exhibit and this great city a destination–so it’s going to be good for their minds and it’s going to be good for our economy. Just as well, Washingtonians old and young alike will get a fun reminder that science never stops. Since the last time the exhibit visited our state in the ’70s, the world’s scientists have learned a whole lot more than what they knew back then. So this exhibit will be larger than it was in ’78, reflecting our richer understanding of who this young Pharaoh was and the world in which he ruled. Of course, if there’s one place on earth that doesn’t have to be convinced that science is really cool, it’s Washington state.” You can hear the rest of Gregoire’s comments in the video (coming soon!)
According to Seidl, the exhibit will focus on the artistic, cultural and historic aspects of the artifacts on the floor, while being bolstered by special programs and films that address “the underlying science” surrounding King Tut–such as recent research into the cause of his death, now thought to have been due to a malaria infection further complicated by a broken bone–built into the programming.
(Photo credit: Ken Lambert, courtesy of The Seattle Times. Caption: This late 1970s bus banner advertisement for the 1978 King Tut exhibit at Seattle Center still hangs on a 1944 Pullman bus Metro uses for trolley excursions for the Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association).
For more information on the history of the 1978 King Tut Seattle exhibit, and what to expect this time around, check out this story from our news partner, The Seattle Times.